What is one of your favorite things about writing?
I like telling stories that make a connection with people. Many years ago I learned a very valuable lesson when I was a reporter: I was writing an in-depth article and to protect my sources I changed the names and locations and even sexes of the people involved. And when the article came out I got a lot of letters from readers who were convinced that I told “their” story although I had never interviewed them. And then I realized that even if there were only seven basic plots in novels it was the way you wrote that story, and the attributes you gave the characters, that made it unique and connected with people.
Would you tell us about your latest release?
My latest release is a Gothic mystery–LOST ROSES OF GANYMEDE HOUSE. This is the blurb for it:
“There, Miss, that be Ganymede House in the distance,” says the driver of her carriage as newly impoverished Sarah Scott gets her first glimpse of the magnificent house in Yorkshire, England, where she will live as tutor for the two children of widower Oliver Grayson. But, unknown to the young woman, she is about to venture into a bleak home where the children are silent, the master morose, the servants suspicious and the family history forbidding.
And, as she begins to take on the responsibility for the children’s education, Sarah finds herself caught up in the hostile spirit that permeates Ganymede–the portrait of Oliver’s wife, Rosamunda, that is locked away in an unused bedroom; the mysterious scent of roses in rooms where no one has entered; the mystery surrounding Rosamunda’s death and the banishment of the mother’s imprint on the children and the manor. Slowly Sarah comes to realize that evil inhabits the house and that she no longer is an outsider to the family–what stalks and touches Ganymede now touches her.
What are you working on now?
I’m editing an entirely different novel right now that will be out in early summer. It’s about senior citizens and the setting is a senior citizen retirement complex. I just felt that there are so many questions and answers for the aging family member, the children and their children and I wanted to write a book about it. And, I wanted to write about the joy and the good times that’s still part of the elderly person—that just because a person ages, it doesn’t mean that they sit in rocking chairs, etc. There’s still life!
Do you have an excerpt from your latest release you would like to share?
This is an excerpt from LOST ROSES OF GANYMEDE HOUSE and I hope you like it.
“There, Miss, that be Ganymede House in the distance.” The driver pointed a bony finger beyond the turn of the road. “Ye can scarcely see the manor from here—there’s a bit of mist this morning—but wait a while and you’ll see it clear for yourself. Some say the estate is the most beautiful in the whole of Yorkshire.”
The carriage turned from the country road onto a private lane lined on both sides by tall stately elms. Once we passed onto the narrow dirt road and were within the confines of the low stone walls that faced the public thoroughfare, I felt chilled; the mist seemed not yet to have dissipated here, as it had across the distance we had just travelled, where the sun had already warmed the cool grounds. The contrast between where I had already been and where I was going now was virtually the same as clear and clouded, or as light and darkness. I shivered in the unexpected coolness and the driver, seeing me draw my cloak around me, tried to make me feel comfortable.
“The sun just takes a bit longer to get here,” he said, “but it’s something you’ll be grateful for when we’re in the midst of a hot summer. Then you’ll be glad for the respite from the heat.” Nevertheless, the man urged the horses on as though he failed to believe his own words and wanted to waste as few moments as possible within the enclosure of the darkened woods.
I had always dreamed of having my own family and my own place in London society, but alas, it was not to be. As the only child of a kindly but inefficient solicitor and his equally kindly but inefficient wife, what should have been an inheritance sufficient to allow me to live in comfortable surroundings turned out, upon the reading of the wills of my parents, to be nonexistent. The inheritance I had heard about during the years I was growing up simply never materialized. Thus, at the age of nineteen, while my friends were preparing for an endless round of parties and balls, I had to consult with my father’s partner about terms of employment that would allow me to live a respectable, but diminished, life.
“I’m afraid, my dear Miss Scott,” my father’s partner, Henry Clayton, said, staring down at my parents’ last will and testament, “that your father did not provide for you as adequately as he had wished. He had hoped that the money would be forthcoming so that he could have left an estate for you, but…” Mr. Clayton’s voice trailed off.
“I know,” I said, “my father was not the most astute of men when it came to handling finances.”
“But a warm soul,” Mr. Clayton interrupted. “He was the noblest of people. His clients came to rely on him and his word.”
“But they did not pay him, as you and I know.” I took a deep breath and asked the question that I was dreading. “And now, Mr. Clayton, what is to become of me?”
Do you have a favorite character or characters you feel especially close to?
I do. Noah and Allie are characters in a book I wrote a couple of years ago–a time-travel romance about today and World War II–called IN TIME. It incorporated themes I’m interested in–time-travel, forever-beyond eternity-love, choices we all must make for ourselves, and characters who are kind and decent. I had played with the themes for a while before it all came together for me and when the book was finished, I hated to let Allie and Noah go–I got so involved with them that I wished they were real.
Would you share one of the sexiest or most romantic lines from one of your books?
It’s a rather mundane romantic line from IN TIME (if romantic lines could ever be mundane)–but in the context of the story it’s a hold-your-breath revelation:
“I think I’ve fallen in love with you, too.” He said it barely above a whisper but in her mind the sound of his gentle voice was loud and stunning and she looked up at him and let a few more ticks of the clock echo in the room before she spoke.
“I didn’t expect you to say that.”
“I didn’t expect to say it.”
Would you tell us about yourself?
I’ve been an investigative reporter, magazine writer, documentary video writer/producer and now I write novels. I usually write at night because it’s quiet and there’s nothing to distract me. My dog, Jake, sleeps peacefully by my desk and I usually have a cup of coffee next to the mousepad. And by day, I’m always trying to “catch up” with household things, meet-up with friends and family, food shopping, take Jake for walks–all the everyday things it seems you never have enough time to do.
Do you have any pets?
I’m very much an animal lover–any animal. I have a wonderful, wonderful, 12-year old rescued beagle/hound/shepherd and I’m always showing his photo to friends and strangers and encouraging people to adopt a forever pet from a rescue organization or shelter and to please be kind to all animals.
My Bio:
Constance Walker is the author of two Gothic mysteries, LOST ROSES OF GANYMEDE HOUSE and THE SHIMMERING STONES OF WINTER’S LIGHT. She is also the author of IN TIME, a modern-WW2 time-travel romance and WARM WINTER LOVE, a contemporary romance about choices.
My in-the-middle-of-revamping website: WWW.CONSTANCEWALKER.COM
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